Counting the cost
Counting the Cost
Also called The Tower Builder, The King Going to War
A man builds a tower without pricing it out. A king marches to war outnumbered.
What it turns on
Jesus is talking people out of following him casually. This is a warning, not a recruitment pitch.
28For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and count the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it?
29Or perhaps, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, everyone who sees begins to mock him,
30saying, ‘This man began to build, and wasn’t able to finish.’
31Or what king, as he goes to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?
32Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an envoy, and asks for conditions of peace.
33So therefore whoever of you who doesn’t renounce all that he has, he can’t be my disciple.
World English Bible, public domain. Read the whole chapter →
More on counting the cost
The Wise and Foolish BuildersTwo houses, one on rock and one on sand. The same storm hits both.The Barren Fig TreeAn owner wants to cut down a tree that has not fruited in three years. The gardener asks for one more year.New Wine in Old WineskinsYou do not patch old cloth with new, or pour new wine into brittle old skins.The Unworthy ServantsA servant who has done his work does not expect to be thanked for doing his work.